Time-delay relay system



April 24, 1951 Filed Jan. 8, 1944 H. M. TRENT,

TIME-DELAY RELAY SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B 2 awumvbo'v HORACE M-TRENT April 24, 1951 H. M. TRENT TIME-DELAY RELAY SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1944 THERMAL 6 WITCH HORACE M. TRENT Patented Apr. 24, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIME-DELAY RELAY SYSTEM Horace M. Trent, Alexandria, Va. Application January 8, 1944, Serial No. 517,529

4 Claims.

.(Granted under the act of amended April 30, 1928;

This invention relates to electro-mec'hanical devices and more particularly to devices of this character, which are operated by a limited battery supply, in which it is desirable to extend as longas possible the life of the batteries.

In remote harbors, lighted beacons, buoys or range lights may often be provided, lit when needed by batteries. These lights may be lit by the Wave action produced'by a vessel passing distant control points but it has been impossible heretofore to distinguish between a pulse created by a passing boat and those produced by wave action generated by rough weather. However since small boats will not frequently desire to pass into or out of small harbors at night in stormy weather, it would be satisfactory to suspend operation of the lights during "rough weather to avoid wasting batteries on such occasions.

It is therefore the object of thisinvention to provide a method of and means for overcoming the objection that automatically controlled devices of the type covered in this specification are of short life due to early battery exhaustion.

It is also the object of this invention to provide a method 01 and means for commencing the operation of a device upon the occurrence of *a specified impulse but 'not'continuing the operation of said device ifthe impulse is frequently repeated.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of and means for turning on the power supply of a circuit when an impulse occurs and not again turning on the power supply if the impulse occurs at a frequency of greater than a certain specified frequency.

More specifically it is the object of this invention to provide a system whereby an automatically operated electro-mechanical light buoy which is lit by the passing of avessel is not again lit if the pressure pulses occur frequently, as for instance, if occasioned by wave action.

In a broader sense it is the object of the present invention to provide a means for causing operation of a device upon each closing of a pair'oi contacts if they are spaced far enough apartin time, but only on the first closing if they are spaced less than a definite amount.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means to operate a device upon the-closing of a pair of contacts but to omit operation of said device upon the rapid closing of said contacts, with a very small power consumption.

'An' additional object of this invention is taprovide means for operatinga device upon the 9101;" mg of a-pair of contacts but to Whit-operation March 3, 1883, as 37 0 0. G. 757) of said device upon the rapid closing of saidcontacts, and also means for adjusting the duration of the operating period.

An ancillary object of this invention is to provide a device of the type described which will occupy a small volume and be of light weight.

These and otherobjects will become clear from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying claims.

In accomplishing the objects of this inventicn there is provided a pressure-actuated switchcontrolled circuit so arranged that upon'the occurrence of a predetermined impulse, such as is caused by a passing vessel, the circuit will cause closure of a relay, which will in turn actuate the desired mechanisms as required for instance to light certain range or buoy lights. After the lapse of a desired interval of time, the relay will open causing the operation to be discontinued. After the lapse of a difierent interval from the initial actuating pulse, the apparatus will be in condition to be reactuated, but if the pressure pulses occur sooner the apparatus will not be actuated and the second occurrence of the pressure pulse will merely re-set the time interval from-the second occurrence. action will render and continue the apparatus inoperative after the first actuation.

--I-Iaving thus briefly described this invention, attention is invited to the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a simple map'of a harbor having lights adapted to be'ac-tuated in accordance with the invention; Fig. -2.-i-s a schematic wiring diagram of the lights and impulse stations of Fig. l; and Fig.3 is -a detailed wiring diagram of the controlling circuits for the accomplishment'of the objects of this invention.

Referring nowmore particularly toFig. Lille 2. harbor near the entrance of which are two entrance buoys, Bp and BS and near the head of which is the anchorage An. To sail from the entranceto the anchorage there are provided range lights R1 and R2. The lights Bp, B5, B1 and R2 are all adapted to be lit-electrically, butsince the harbor is remote and is but infrequently used, it is desired to provide a system ior turningon the lights only if a vessel approaches and desires to enter. To-accomplish this a series of control points C1, C2, -Cs'etc. are laid around the-harbor s entrance-connected to a power and control pack P. Bp, BS, R1 andRe etc. are connected to P as shown.

In Fig. 2, to which attention is .now directed, thecontrol'points C1,'Cz,etc., are shown as hydrostatically controlled switch 1 elements 5 operated Thus wave:

3' upon lowered pressure by means of diaphragm D. Connections from C1, and C2, etc, to P and from thence to R1, R2, Bp and B are as shown.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there is shown the arrangement of the power and control pack P. Upon the closure of either of the pressure actuated switches C1, C2, etc., the potential of the B-battery l is impressed across the series resistors 2 and 3. However because of the large capacity of condenser 5, in shunt across resistor 2, substantially the entire B-battery potential will be impressed across resistor 3 and on the electrode 4 of the cold cathode glow type tube T. Electrode 4 is thereby given an instantaneou voltage of about 135 volts relative to electrode 6. The tube T has a trigger action and once the anode current is started it will continue until the circuit is interrupted. The voltage on 4 causes it to act as a grid and starts current flowing through the anode circuit of the tube comprising anode I, relay inductance coil 8, battery I, switch l3 and electrode 6. This causes the relay to close contact 9 and Ii] causin the A voltage of battery M to be impressed across output terminals A, and the B voltage of battery l to be impressed across output terminals B.

Either a high voltage B or a low voltage A may be supplied to the buoys and range lights and this voltage may be used as desired either to light the light directly or to actuate relays which may be provided to control the fiow of a local source to the lights. Closure of contact 10 also supplies current to the heater coil H of the time delay switch 12 and after a desired interval of time the heating of the coil causes the normally closed switch I3 to open and interrupt the plate-cathode current flow causing opening of contacts 9 and When coil ll cools and contact [3 again closes, the tube T will no longer pass current until the potential of 4 i again raised to about 75 volts or more relative to electrode 6.

Once the condenser 5 is fully charged, the B voltage is impressed through 2 and 3 in series and the IR drop across 3 will not be great enough to cause 4 to start the tube plate current. The period of discharge of 5 through resistor 2 may be adjusted as desired by changing the value of the resistor. The relay will not be activated until the condenser is substantially discharged. Thus if the switches are being closed by the action of waves in rough weather, the relay will be operated the first time only and after that subsequent closures merely serve to recharge condenser 5 to full capacity, replacin the charge which has leaked of. through 2 since the last closure of a contact C.

Various modifications may be made in this invention. For instance the arrangement may be used in connection with the operation of call bells, gates 01- barriers or with the arming of various explosive devices. Therefore this invention is not to be considered as limited to the specific embodiment shown and described for the purpose of illustration but by the scope as defined by the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

I claim:

1. In combination, an impulse actuated switch, a source of potential, a low pass filter circuit having input and output terminals, the input termi nals of said filter circuit being connected to said source of potential and switch in series thereby to receive an electrical impulse from said source of potential upon each closure of said switch, said filter circuit acting to pass freely impulses of low recurrence rate and to attenuate impulses of high recurrence rate, a control circuit coupled to the output terminals of said filter circuit and adapted to be energized by the impulses freely passed by said filter circuit, a relay connected to and actuated by said control circuit in response to the energization of said control circuit, and a load circuit including a time delay switch circuit connected to said elay to be rendered operative upon actuation of said relay, said time delay switch further being connected to said control circuit to disable same and thereby deactuate said relay after the elapse of a predetermined interval of time following the energization of said control circuit.

2. In combination, an impulse actuated switch, a source of potential, a low pass filter circuit having input and output terminals, the input terminals of said filter circuit being connected to said source of potential and switch in series thereby to receive an electrical impulse from said source of potential upon each closure of said switch, said filter circuit acting to pass freely impulses of low recurrence rate and to attenuate impulses of a high recurrence rate, a gaseous discharge device connected to the output terminals of said filter circuit and adapted to initiate a discharge in response to the pulses freely passed by said filter circuit, a relay connected to and actuated by the establishment of a discharg in said discharge device, a discharge quenching means coupled to said discharge device to terminate the discharge therein, and a load circuit including a time delay means connected to said relay and energized in response to the actuation of said relay to render said quenching means operative after the elapse of a predetermined interval of time followin the actuation of said relay.

3. In combination, an impulse actuated switch, a source of potential, a resistance connected to said source of potential and switch in series to thereby receive an electrical impulse from said source of potential upon each closure of said switch, a condenser shunting a portion of said resistanc and forming with said portion a long time constant whereby frequent closures of said switch produce small amplitude impulses across the unshunted portion of said resistance and infrequent closures of said switch produce large amplitude impulses across the unshunted portion of said resistance, a control circuit coupled across the unshunted portion of said resistance and adapted to be energized by only the large amplitude impulses appearing thereacross, a relay connected to and actuated by said control circuit in response to the energization of said control circuit, and a load circuit including'a time delay switch circuit connected to said relay to be rendered operative upon actuation of said relay, said time delay switch further being connected to said control circuit to disable same and thereby deactuate said relay after the elapse of a predetermined interval of time following the energization of said control circuit.

4. In combination with a source of randomly recurrent electrical impulses, a low pass filter circuit having input and output terminals with the input terminals thereof arranged to receive the impulses from said source of impulses. said 1 connected to said relay to be rendered operative upon actuation of said relay, said time delay switch further being connected to said control circuit to disable same and thereby deactuate said relay after the elapse of a predetermined interval of time followin the energization of said control circuit.

HORACE M. TRENT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Adler Dec. 17, 1940 Number Re. 21,659 1,242,756

25 Arnold et a1. Oct. 9, 1917 Number Number 6 Name Date Dorsey Sept. 13, 1921 Lea Sept. 1, 1925 Thompson Oct. 6, 1925 Almquist June 5, 1928 Wensley Feb. 19, 1929 Cockrell July 12, 1932 Allen Mar. 30, 1937 Rockwood Jan. 23, 1940 Trogner Feb. 11, 1941 Torcheux Mar. 10, 1942 Richardson Dec. 8, 1942 Hayes Jan. 6, 194 8 Murcek Mar. 16, 1948 Giansante June 8, 1948 Hartwig Nov. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Oct. 6, 192,7 

